(Lander, WY) – Zachary Bellinger was sentenced to a total of three years of supervised probation at his October 6 sentencing hearing in Lander’s District Court. The hearing was overseen by the Honorable Judge Jason Conder, with Terry Martin representing the State, and Valrie Schoneberger acting as Defense.
Bellinger was originally charged with felony 3rd degree arson and misdemeanor criminal trespass, in relation to the attempted arson of the Lander Bar/Gannett Grill on December 9, 2024.
Bellinger received a 3-5 year prison sentence for the felony charge, which was suspended in favor of the supervised release (with 300 days’ credit for time already served). He received 180 days of imprisonment for the misdemeanor charge, which was suspended in favor of 6 months of probation, to be served concurrently with the felony sentence. He was also ordered to pay $1,350 in restitution to the Lander Bar/Gannett Grill.
Bellinger originally pled ‘not guilty’ by reason of mental illness to the charges back in February, and a tentative jury trial was set while waiting for the mental examination to be conducted.
Judge Conder shared at the sentencing hearing that Bellinger was deemed “competent to proceed” following the subsequent mental evaluation, as per court filings from June 2.
The sentence ultimately adhered to the conditions of a plea agreement made at a July 15 change-of-plea hearing.
The Prosecution and Defense both stated Bellinger was an “appropriate candidate” for supervised release, with Martin commenting that he was deemed “moderate” in terms of chances of recidivism, as per the pre-sentence investigation report. Schoneberger added that Bellinger’s mental health at the time of the incident was a”big factor” in his actions.
When he was given a chance to address the court, Bellinger stated that he was “sorry for everything (he) did,” and that his actions were “not (his) usual personality,” before adding that he would be moving from Lander to help “put everything” behind him.
When Judge Conder accepted the plea and set the sentence, he noted that Bellinger’s actions had “the potential to be catastrophic,” but that he was “not the typical person sitting in this chair” due to his lack of criminal history.
Click here to read all of County 10’s coverage on the case.